My buddy is a creative, intelligent 4th grader. She enjoys reading both fantasy and non-fiction and incorporating what she reads into her stories. She loves to write fantasy stories in her free time, especially stories about werewolves. Her non-fiction readings about wolves adds realistic detail to her stories.
During the level four assessment, "Amelia Earhart", my buddy had strong reading comprehension skills, placing at an independent level. She answered seven out of the eight comprehension questions correctly, missing the one question that we as group decided was a poorly written question and that she had technically answered the question correctly, but it was not the answer given by the assessment. Her read-aloud fluency placed her around the 50th percentile , reading 117 words per minute, without any miscues. She reads at comfortable rate, paying close attention to punctuation. I believe her independent reading rate would be higher.
While my buddy is reading above a fourth grade level, based on the above assessment and on prior work with her, I believe she would benefit from additional read-alouds to raise her fluency rate. A read aloud activity like a readers theater would help her build confidence and read faster. This lesson would satisfy EALR 1.4.3 Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently. Apply different reading rates to match text.
The reader’s theater is a great idea. Many students struggle with punctuation and paragraphs. Often I hear students reading right through these. Most students also struggle with intonation. I think a reader’s theater is a great way to teach children these skills. It is also a great way to teach dialogue which is another common struggle.
ReplyDeleteThe meeting I had last week with my buddy blew me away. He has always been distracted and unfocused in our meetings. This week was similar, but the subject matter of the readings we discussed brought out great interest and personal experience. We really connected with each other and the readings. I am curious if you have had similar experiences with this buddy or another.
Reading with expression is one benefit of Reader's Theatre. I agree with your thinking on incorporating this reading strategy. It will help students to internalize the character's unique perspective. How did the character feel when that happened? How did you feel?
ReplyDeleteIdeas for extension and differentiating instruction may include brainstorming a different ending. How do you think the story ended? Would you change anything if you could? How might you re-tell this story another way? Within the context of a safe environment, opening discussion for everyone to participate helps to engage all the kiddos. Also, consider asking the students to choose their own roles.
Readers theater is a great way to get students to practice reading aloud with expression. Some alternatives include poetry, poems for two voices, and working with a student to read aloud a text with lots of dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI think Reader's theater can really help our buddy read with expression and help her with her fluency. I noticed that our buddy tries to read real fast without taking pauses after a period. I think reader's theater will be a fun lesson for our buddy to build fluency and increase comprehension. Also, reader's theater can provide opportunities for cooperative learning with her classmates.
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